
Image via http://www.queanbeyanagechronicle.com.au
An overwrought black-and-white melodrama of grubby masculinity, Roger Eggers’ The Lighthouse is too self-consciously arty to be genuinely engaging. Continue reading
Image via http://www.queanbeyanagechronicle.com.au
An overwrought black-and-white melodrama of grubby masculinity, Roger Eggers’ The Lighthouse is too self-consciously arty to be genuinely engaging. Continue reading
Image via miff.com.au
Okay, a confession up front; I micro-napped throughout this film. It’s tempting to think this is why I have no idea of the storyline but I suspect that wide-eyed wakefulness wouldn’t have helped all that much. Continue reading
Image via http://www.spanishfilmfestival.com
I had a few micro naps in this well-meaning but ham-fisted Spanish thriller, screening as part of the Spanish Film Festival. The synopsis likened it to V for Vendetta, which was what convinced me to choose it. And yes it had political activists wearing masks to hide their identity but it felt like a film school version; with drama and action substituted with endless exposition, a convoluted plot and a score straight from a bad TV-movie. Continue reading
Image via http://www.theverge.com
The Endless fulfilled the promise of its name and felt never-ending. Listed as a horror, it is more a muddled sci-fi, low on suspense and high on exposition. Continue reading
Image by Annie Liebovitz via http://www.vogue.com
If you want to see a film that makes you believe that all is right with the world, that discrimination, racism and the class system are problems that were resolved 100+ years ago with a bit of song and dance and hugging, then this is the film for you. Continue reading
What a wacky wacky world. For a start, they moved the Planetarium. I had booked to see a Fulldome Showcase – short films projected on the planetarium dome – but didn’t check the venue location. Didn’t it used to be at the State Library? Probably not. Now it’s in Spotswood. Blimey, too far to walk. Too, too far. So I booked another one based on last minute availability and venue alone and so got to see Contemporary Color, a US documentary about color guard. About what? I didn’t know what it was either. Continue reading
I bailed on this one. I gave it a good 45 minutes. It’s a documentary about the Afghan Film Archive that was funded in the 60s by the US and almost completely destroyed by the Taliban. The film focuses on three people who have played their part in saving as many films as they can. Continue reading
Like Ma, this film was a little challenging to enjoy as it made no concessions for the knowledge-base, or lack of it in my case, of its viewers. Made entirely of found footage with no narration or explanation, we watch the events unfolding in Leningrad in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapses. Continue reading
Or MacGyver in Space, as Ron dubbed it as the lights went up. Benn asked me to review this one so the whole family trekked to the nearest town with a cinema for the experience. I will tell you from the outset that this review will have spoilers. Not that I will reveal anything that’s not patently obvious as soon as the movie starts, no, actually, as soon as you see the movie poster. This is a Hollywood film through and through and that means it’s predictable, patriotic and full of heroic blokes. Continue reading
Meh.
Can any film review be unbiased? I watched this film while I was sick. People love this film. Ron, sitting one couch over from me and watching exactly the same film, was impressed. I was unmoved. Continue reading